Murders and Attempted Murders

News about Murders and Attempted Murders, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Nov. 21, 2014

Hong Kong banker Rurik George Caton Jutting is accused of murder in deaths of Indonesian women Seneng Mujiasih and Sumarti Ningsih; while police have released few details, interviews with friends, relatives and acquaintances, as well as extensive online records, describe a story of impoverished immigrants encountering a man with expendable income and an interest in Asian women. MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

Bronx man Fernando Yensi is charged with manslaughter in connection with fatal beating of his wife's 3-year-old grandson Poseidon Quinones. MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

New Jersey State Police say shooting at home in secluded area of southern town of Tabernacle left two children dead and a woman and third child wounded; police do not confirm that case is murder-suicide, but say there is no active search for a gunman. MORE

Nov. 20, 2014

Body of Honduran beauty queen Maria Jose Alvarado is found along with that of her sister Sofia near riverbank near their home in western Honduras, six days after they disappeared; police say both women were shot; sisters' disappearance riveted country where violence against women has risen sharply. MORE

Nov. 20, 2014

Baba Rampal Maharaj, self-styled 'godman' or guru, is arrested in northern Indian state of Haryana after weeklong standoff with police, who had attempted to storm heavily fortified compound where he was blockaded with thousands of his followers; Maharaj is charged with conspiracy to murder, incitement of violence and contempt of court in connection with confrontation in 2006 between his disciples and adherents of another sect. MORE

Nov. 20, 2014

Four Pakistani men receive death sentences for murder of family member Farzana Parveen, pregnant woman bludgeoned to death on public street in honor killing; her father and brother are among those found guilty. MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

Two Palestinians armed with gun, knives and axes storm synagogue in Jerusalem, killing four men, including three Americans; assailants are killed at scene, along with police officer; politicians and others worldwide condemn attack, worst in city since 2008, and its sectarian nature. MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

Four Jewish men who were killed while at prayer in Jerusalem by Palestinian assailants were all members of neighborhood synagogue and lived on the same street; congregants attend funerals for Rabbi Moshe Twersky, Rabbi Kalman Zeev Levine, Aryeh Kupinsky and Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, mourning loss of synagogue's 'wise scholars.' MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

News analysis; deadly attack at Jerusalem Synagogue that resulted in deaths of four Orthodox Jews suggests that long-stalemated battle over disputed holy site may be emerging as a full-throated religious war; some Palestinians openly celebrate the killings, claiming act was in defense of site that Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary and Jews the Temple Mount; extremists on both sides seem to be acting increasingly beyond the control of Israeli and Palestinian leaders. MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

Authorities in Virginia conclude that case of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham, whose remains were later discovered, is a homicide; Jesse L Matthew Jr has been charged with her abduction with intent to defile. MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

New York City Police say Kevin Darden has been charged with fatally shoving Wai Kuen Kwok into path of oncoming subway train in the Bronx; Darden was taken into custody in separate assault at Manhattan subway station after pushing another man to subway platform. MORE

Nov. 19, 2014

Editorial expresses horror at murder of four men, including three rabbis, at synagogue complex in neighborhood of West Jerusalem; maintains it is tragedy for all Israelis and Palestinians, as the two communities appear increasingly locked in cycle of hatred that makes permanent peace seem impossible; calls on Palestinian Pres Mahmoud Abbas to make moral case that such brutality can only bring shame upon Palestinian people. MORE

Nov. 18, 2014

New York City police continue all-out manhunt, aided by New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force, for man who pushed Wai Kuen Kwok onto subway tracks on D line in Bronx; man caught on surveillance video has been identified but police will not release his name or say if he is a suspect and no new leads have developed in seemingly random attack. MORE

Nov. 18, 2014

Psychologist Cheryl Paradis appears for defense in murder trial of Christian Falero, who fatally stabbed two of his neighbors and wounded two others in Manhattan in 2011; Paradis testifies that Falero was acutely psychotic at time of events, supporting insanity defense. MORE

Nov. 17, 2014

Wai Kuen Kwok of the Bronx is pushed to his death from D train platform; surveillance video shows man described by witnesses as assailant, who remains at large; police say nothing was stolen and it does not appear there was any prolonged confrontation before the incident. MORE

Nov. 15, 2014

Yoselyn Ortega, nanny accused of killing 6-year-old Lucia Krim and 2-year-old Leo Krim in their Upper West Side apartment in 2012, says in court papers that she is sorry for what she had done, despite having pleaded not guilty to charges. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Nov. 14, 2014

Bronx resident Vincent Zanfardino, who had epileptic seizure while driving on New England Thruway in 2012 and crashed into another car, killing 25-year-old Alfred Reitano, is charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and several counts of assault; had told his doctor that he did not drive and failed to mention his epilepsy when renewing his drivers license; he could face 5 to 15 years in prison. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Parents prosecuted for accidentally killing their children by leaving them in hot cars have had widely varying experiences with justice system; Kyle Seitz of Ridgefield, Conn, has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, raising question of whether death of child is punishment enough for grieving parent. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Danny Colon and Anthony Ortiz agree to $9 million settlement with New York City after spending 16 years in jail before their convictions in 1989 double murder were overturned; agreement is latest in string of settlements over wrongful convictions based on flawed prosecutions that has cast spotlight on prosecutors’ tactics during extraordinarily violent period in city. MORE

Nov. 13, 2014

Case of Freddie Cox, man who has been released from prison after serving a 28-year sentence for murder, illustrates how parole boards are changing long-held emphasis on admission of guilt; Cox is among four other men convicted in Brooklyn courts who have won their freedom despite claiming to be innocent; shift comes as New York and other states confront a growing number of wrongful-conviction claims. MORE

Nov. 13, 2014

Kyle Seitz is arraigned on charges of criminally negligent homicide in the death of his 15-month-old son Benjamin, who perished after being left in hot car for more than eight hours in Ridgefield, Conn; newly released arrest warrant details Seitz's activities on fatal day in which he forgot to drop Benjamin at day care and left him in parking lot while he attended work. MORE

Nov. 12, 2014

Teachers and students set fire to the headquaters of Mexican Pres Enrique Pena Nieto's party in Guerrero State; action comes amid protest of the abduction and apparent murder of 43 college students in September. MORE

Nov. 12, 2014

Authorities are trying to determine whether driver found dead of self-inflicted wounds in Memphis is quadruple amputee Sean Petrozzino, who is wanted after fatal shooting of his parents in their Orlando home. MORE

Nov. 12, 2014

Nov. 12, 2014

Kyle Seitz, father of 15-month-old boy who died after being left in hot car in Ridgefield, Conn, turns himself in after being charged with negligent homicide. MORE

Nov. 12, 2014

Editorial asserts that disappearance and presumed murder of 43 students in Mexico, as well as protests about their disappearance, are latest example of breakdown of law and order in the country; argues that whatever limited progress Pres Enrique Pena Nieto has been made still has not repaired criminal justice system unable to properly investigate crimes, end corruption or stop killings. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Israeli soldier and woman are killed in separate stabbing attacks that authorities in Israel attribute to Palestinian men, rattling Israelis and intensifying political pressure on Prime Min Benjamin Netanyahu. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Vasilios Gerazounis, landlord of building in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, pleads guilty to criminally negligent homicide in deaths of five Guatemalan immigrants who were killed in 2010 arson fire; investigators found that several of the victims were trapped inside illegally partitioned apartments; prosecutors took rare step of not only filing charges against the arsonist but also Gerazounis. MORE

Nov. 11, 2014

Darryl Page and Tykquan Fennell are fatally shot in an elevator at a building in Bronx housing project Morrisania Air Rights complex; police say they have not confirmed motive for deaths but they are investigating whether it was a retaliatory shooting. MORE

Nov. 10, 2014

Man is killed and two women injured after car driven by Kevin Weekes strikes them after an altercation at a baby shower at the Visions of New York banquet hall on Merrick Boulevard in the Laurelton neighborhood of Queens; two other fatal incidents were also reported in Queens in the same night. MORE

Nov. 9, 2014

Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg dies of wounds sustained in shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington State, making him fifth teenager to die as result of incident; was cousin of shooter Jaylen Fryberg. MORE

Nov. 8, 2014

Mexico's attorney general announces that members of drug gang arrested in the investigation into the disappearance of 43 college students told investigators that they had killed the students and burned their bodies in a pyre of tires and branches; says suspects had led investigators to fractured, incinerated remains, along a river, that would be tested for identification at a laboratory in Austria. MORE

Nov. 7, 2014

New York State Supreme Court Judge Robert H Freehill throws out murder indictment against David Carlson, who shot and killed rape suspect Nelson Acosta-Sanchez in Sparrowbush, NY, in what prosecutors have said was vigilante killing; Westchester County district attorney's office may appeal decision. MORE

Nov. 6, 2014

Mr. Rudd was arrested in New Zealand and charged with trying to hire someone to commit murder. MORE

Nov. 6, 2014

Pakistani Prime Min Nawaz Sharif orders authorities to 'show no mercy' in bringing to justice those involved in murder of Shahzad and Shama Masih, Christian couple who were tortured and then incinerated in brick kiln after being accused of blasphemy; killings have been met with widespread condemnation in country. MORE

Nov. 6, 2014

Court documents say Eric M Frein, survivalist charged in a deadly ambush on a Pennsylvania State Police barracks, stowed guns and other gear in an abandoned airplane hangar near where he was captured after 48 days on the run. MORE

Nov. 6, 2014

Manhattan jury finds Gigi Jordan guilty of manslaughter in the killing of her son, Jude Mirra, rejecting prosecution's call for a murder conviction; accepts Jordan's claims that she poisoned her son while in throes of 'extreme emotional disturbance'; Jordan's lawyers still intend to appeal verdict, by which Jordan faces five to 25 years in prison. MORE

Nov. 5, 2014

South African state prosecutors begin legal proceedings to appeal the conviction and 'shockingly light' sentence handed down to track star Oscar Pistorious for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp; Pistorius was acquitted of murder charges but convicted of culpable homicide. MORE

Nov. 5, 2014

Enraged mob in Punjab Province, Pakistan, tortures and kills Pakistani Christian couple Shahzad Masih and Shama Masih, incinerating their bodies in a brick kiln; authorities plan to arrest 460 people in the killings, which began when the couple were accused of blasphemy by burning the Quran. MORE

Nov. 5, 2014

Gigi Jordan, multimillionaire on trial for poisoning her disabled 8-year-old son, launches media campaign covering print, television and Internet before nonsequestered jury begins deliberation; she has employed at least 11 lawyers and public relations firm in unusual and risky attempt to win over public opinion. MORE

Nov. 4, 2014

British banker Rurik George Caton Jutting is charged in Hong Kong with two counts of murder in killings of two women in his high-rise apartment. MORE

Nov. 3, 2014

Hong Kong police say British man Rurik Jutting is arrested after bodies of two women are found in his upscale apartment; he is identified as former employee of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. MORE

Nov. 2, 2014

Dutch government plans to reopen investigation into murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, which remains divisive issue ten years after fact; journalist Theodor Holman, close friend of Van Gogh, posits theory in his film 2/11 that CIA and Dutch secret service knew killer was dangerous but did nothing to stop him. MORE

Nov. 1, 2014

Justin Bourque of Canada, convicted of fatally shooting three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers and wounding two others, is sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 75 years. MORE

Nov. 1, 2014

Dante Martin, former marching band member of Florida A&M University's celebrated Marching 100, is found guilty of manslaughter and felony hazing in the death of drum major Robert Champion after a violent hazing ritual aboard bus in 2011; Martin faces up to 15 years in prison. MORE

Nov. 1, 2014

Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, 14-year-old girl shot and critically wounded when classmate Jaylen Ray Fryberg opened fire at Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington State, dies. MORE

Nov. 1, 2014

Michael Wilson Crime Scene column focuses on Flossey Samuels, Walter Romaine and Octavio Rivera, strangers, more or less, who recall drug-filled episode in 2012 that left at least one person stabbed and changed the lives of all. MORE